Big bold abstracts in eye-popping colours, Shirley Craven’s extraordinary textiles encapsulate the exuberance of the Swinging Sixties. A major exhibition at Bankfield Museum in Halifax celebrates her remarkable creative partnership with Hull Traders, the local company who printed her designs.

Hull Traders were based at Trawden, near Colne in Lancashire – not in Hull! They were named after Tristram Hull, who founded the company in 1957. Yorkshire-born Shirley Craven was their chief designer and art director for 20 years. She won a string of awards during the 1960s for her remarkable hand screen-printed furnishing fabrics with their giant painterly designs.

Shirley Craven sprang to prominence in 1959 at the age of 25 shortly after leaving the Royal College of Art. Pioneering a style more akin to painting than textiles, she broke all the rules, revolutionising post-war furnishings with her dramatic, unconventional, large-scale designs.

Hull Traders was distinctive from the outset. Its first collection featured designs by the maverick duo, sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi and photographer Nigel Henderson collaborating under the name Hammer Prints.

As Colour and Design Consultant, Shirley Craven was the creative lynchpin of Hull Traders from 1959-1979. She masterminded their entire collection, creating a third of the designs herself, as well as selecting work by emergent artists and designers. Craven’s choices were eclectic, visionary and avant-garde, ranging in style from Abstract Expressionism to Op Art to Pop Art.

In 1966 Hull Traders branched out into furniture with the tomotom range – an icon of the pop era. Designed by Craven’s husband, Bernard Holdaway, tomotom was made of giant cardboard tubes painted in bright colours. Cheap, stylish and fun, tomotom was a runaway success. George Best chose tomotom for his Manchester fashion boutique in 1967.

Curated by Lesley Jackson, a leading authority on post-war design, this ambitious exhibition is the first devoted to Shirley Craven and Hull Traders. ‘Shirley Craven was a big name on the 60s design scene, but has since been forgotten,’ says Jackson. ‘This exhibition puts her firmly back in the spotlight where she belongs. Hull Traders’ textiles and furniture have an explosive visual impact and will transform people’s perception of post-war design.’

A major new book, Shirley Craven and Hull Traders – Revolutionary Fabrics and Furniture 1957-1980 by Lesley Jackson, is on sale at the exhibition for £20.

“The Victoria & Albert Museum has appointed its first ever digital artist in residence.Christian Kerrigan will be based at the V&A’s Sackler Centre until June, creating new pieces for his ongoing body of work, The 200 Year Continuum, which he began in 2007.Kerrigan will work with the V&A’s collection and its research and conservation departments, and will make use of the new digital media studios in the Sackler Centre. He will hold open studios and host public events alongside the V&A’s ongoing digital exhibition, Decode: Digital Design Sensations.Kerrigan will also be exploring the V&A’s digital archives, focusing on the prints and drawings collection. He is planning to explore mythical landscapes in Japanese prints to create new works.”

see also these events hosted at the V & A – check the details on their website follow the link to open studios

Christian uses digital technology to make objects, installations, and drawings which draw out an array of ideas about nature, technology and mortality.
Visit the Residency webpages to find out more about Christian’s work

The Residency Programme is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Tomorrows’s Culture Show, presented by Mishal Husain, comes from the new medieval and Renaissance Galleries at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Andrew Graham-Dixon will be picking out his favourites from the collection. He will also be meeting up with John Lydon, who will perform exclusively for the Culture Show with the recently re-formed Public Image Ltd.

Tom Dyckhoff meets up with Dieter Rams, whose designs have found a permanent home in museums over the world.

“As head of design at Braun, the German consumer electronics manufacturer, DIETER RAMS (1932-) emerged as one of the most influential industrial designers of the late 20th century by defining an elegant, legible, yet rigorous visual language for its products.”

“Artist Rob Ryan will be transforming the Visitor Centre at Yorkshire Sculpture Park this winter as his imaginative paper cuts and screen prints go on display from 11 November.

Famed for his detailed hand-cutting of delicate papers into intricate patterns, often revealing whimsical stories or poetic phrases, Ryan will be decorating the four metre-long shop window at YSP with a huge paper cut panel. Framed one-off paper cuts and limited edition screen prints, exclusive to YSP, will be on display throughout the Centre.”

Stella & husband Dave opened their first Museum under the name Rejectamenta on July 21st. 1991 in a redundant twelfth century C of E church in East Wittering, West Sussex.Four years later they moved their growing collection to a near-by tourist attraction at Earnley Gardens where they had more room. Rejectamenta was housed there until the end of November 2002.Stella originally from Birmingham, and Dave from Cheltenham had alwaysdreamt of returning to the West Midlands and again running their ownshow. When they discovered the Old Market Hall in Craven Arms for sale they moved heaven and earth and several hundreds of thousands of items –Their Masterpiece was nearing completion.Rejectamenta had gained an army of fans during Its eleven years on the south coast, many of whom have visited ‘Land of Lost Content’ which opened on April 18th. 2003. Lots of new recruits have swelled that army since.

Stella and Wayne first met in 1991shortly after she and Dave openedtheir first museum Rejectamenta ina redundant church in West Sussexnot far from where Wayne and hisfamily lived. Wayne and Stellacould often be seen vying with eachother at local car-boot sales.

Stella and Wayne Hemmingway first met in 1991shortly after she and Dave opened their first museum Rejectamenta in a redundant church in West Sussexnot far from where Wayne and his family lived. Wayne and Stella could often be seen vying with each other at local car-boot sales.